This week our Network News covers a great new podcast from our friends in Australia, new developments in immunotherapy, Ellen Goodman gives you the maths on starting the conversation about End of Life Care, and finally some data on the rise of head and neck cancers.

The Thing About Cancer

Listen to the welcome episode to find out what The Thing About Cancer podcast seriesis all about – and how it can help after a cancer diagnosis.

Get information and insights as host Julie McCrossin chats to experts and people affected by cancer.

Together we’ll explore topics ranging from coping with the emotional impact and making decisions about treatment, to managing side effects like nausea and fatigue and understanding how cancer might affect your sex life. We also talk about how to explain cancer to kids and how to support someone with cancer, as well as how all this can affect carers.

Produced by Cancer Council NSW, The Thing About Cancer is your companion through all things cancer.

Novel combinations can capitalize on immunogenicity of head and neck cancer

NEW YORK — Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, professor of hematology/medical oncology and otolaryngology and director of the head and neck oncology program at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, spoke at HemOnc Today New York about combination approaches for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the immunotherapy era.

“Head and neck cancer ... is very immunogenic,” Saba told HemOnc Today. “The amount of infiltrative immune cells in head and neck tumors surpasses those of many other tumors, and ... data show reversal of immune suppression makes a big difference in the effectiveness of immunotherapy in this disease.”

Saba discussed the potential role of immunotherapy as part of combination therapy with radiation, chemotherapy or targeted agents.

In a national survey conducted by The Conversation Project, we discovered some interesting facts that reinforce the importance of encouraging everyone, everywhere to have the conversation. https://theconversationproject.org/

Head and neck cancer on the rise

LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Germany -- In honor of April's National Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month, medical providers from the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, Oral Surgery Clinic and Speech-Language Pathology Department at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center held a head and neck cancer screening event at both the hospital and the Ramstein Exchange Apr. 17 where over 130 people from the community were evaluated.